Caroll Berry Thayer

1886- 1978

c. 1947

Pemaquid Light
Maine Coast

Dearborn 103

Wood engraving

18 7/8" x 12"

Hand signed

SOLD

The wood engravings of
Carroll Thayer Berry have become emblematic of Maine.Prints like
"Deer Isle Thoroughfare", "Retired from the Sea"
and "Lobsterman- Homeward Bound" exemplify the richness
and simplicity of Down East Maine.His consummate craftsmanship
and natural approach created a body of work that is immediately
recognizable as his. Born in New Gloucester, Maine and working
out of Rockport, Berry chronicled scenes from almost every town
of Downeast and Midcoast Maine. After an initial experimental
period, he settled on the affordable medium of the woodblock
during the Depression before a late series of compositions influenced
by the theory of Dynamic Symmetry. After completing his marine
engineering studies at the University of Michigan, he moved to
Massachusetts where he worked as a mechanical draftsman for an
engineering firm. He went to Panama in 1910 to participate in
the construction of the Panama Canal, but contracted malaria.
It was while recuperating that he began taking art classes at
the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1915 he moved to Chicago and
worked as an illustrator before moving back to Maine and eventually
settling in Rockport.